Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs: 
1 edit | Upgrade Advice.
I'm thinking of upgrading a few parts to something more up to date for gaming and i would appreciate some advice.
This is what i have at the moment.
Cpu - AMD Athlon XP Barton 2600+
Motherboard - MSI KT6 Delta-LSR
Memory - Geil pc3200 ddr 400MHz (x2 512)
Graphics Card - »www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/34960
Psu - »www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···--5-year
Case - »www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···r-c-w-3x
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I have about a £200 Budget and looking to buy MEMORY, PROCESSOR AND MOTHERBOARD
Motherboard - Something MSI or Gigabyte - Or if you have something you can recommend
Processor - AMD, Looking at the 3000Mhz mark but i haven't a clue when it comes to duel or quad core so if you can recommend something that be great
Memory - I seem to go for Geil but again if you can recommend something, looking to get about 4GB.
Will be shopping here »www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/ Or »www.ebuyer.com/
Thanks for your time and info in advance, anything else you require just ask me. |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs: | Was looking at this processor
»www.ebuyer.com/product/125202
But not sure what motherboard i need that's compatible with my setup, any suggestions? |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
No, you don't want to mess around with the old athlon 64.
You have a nice power supply. The problem is that your graphics card, being agp, will not be able to come with you.
I would suggest getting the following with integrated graphics. It won't be a gaming monster until you add a graphics card, but it will allow you to get by with a working system and modest gaming until you can afford a new graphics card.
550 phenom II x2 (this clock for clock is a better performer than the older chips):
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···re-Black
gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H 785G based board. Good quality:
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···85G--AM3
crucial ddr3 1066 ram:
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···allistix
This is a solid foundation for a gaming setup. Once you add a graphics card it will be a very nice system for games. |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs: | reply to Johnny_
nice suggestions, cant believe i have to replace my graphics card only had it cpl months lol thought it be good for when i do decide to upgrade, there's no way around it no ? if not what card would you suggest ? |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| "there's no way around it no ?"
Agp is dead. There aren't motherboards made with agp slots anymore. Trying to salvage that card would force you buy outdated parts to keep yourself locked into a dead interface. It's best not to throw away more money with such a move. 3850 performance is pretty anemic by today's standards.
"what card would you suggest ?"
What specific games are we talking about and at what resolution do you play them? If you aren't sure of the resolution give us your monitor size so we have a target resolution? |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs: | reply to Johnny_
atm i play wow and cs-s but probably invest in Aion
This is my monitor »www.iiyama.com/ms_GL/Product/cat···oduct/16 |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
I have looked at the prices at microdirect. I'm going to give you a range of options, not all are in stock.
For the games you mention at 1680x resolution I think something like this gts 250 would be a good balance of power at reasonable cost:
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···MI-DVI-I
There is also a 9800gt which doesn't have quite the performance and is the same price but is in stock at the moment(if the other doesn't become available):
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···MI-DVI-I
A step up from these would be a 4870 card:
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···ics-Card
You probably don't need quite that much power but it's worth considering.
There are also some less expensive options and they should be adequate for the games you mention, but you give up quite a bit for the cost savings so I would only go this direction if the budget absolutely requires it:
A 9600gt:
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···rd-512MB
A bit below that is this older 8800gts 320MB card:
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/38393
Even the lowest listed 8800gts will be a little bit above your 3850, though the 8800gts won't be a big difference. If you can swing the gts 250 it is well worth doing.
If you aren't going to buy a graphics card in the near future you should come back and post in the hardware discussion forum and I'll see what prices and options are at that time. I don't watch this forum as closely as the hardware discussion forum. |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs:
4 edits | reply to Johnny_
Ok graphics card wise as i stated i have Sapphire ATi Radeon HD 3850 512MB and as im upgrading to PSI i just wanted to know what card listed above or others will be the same as this card. i dont really want to spend to much on one, just recommend a PCI card with near enough same specs as my AGP card. thanks.
Buying from this store »www.ebuyer.com/ and a reduced budgit of about £60
I also wanted to know the built in graphics in this motherboard is it good enough to play games with ? its Graphics controller Radeon HD 4200.
And sorry about same post in Hardware help, i just thought it be a better place for it.
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Gordo74
Premium
join:2003-10-28
Monroeville, PA
clubs:
| reply to Johnny_
»www.ebuyer.com/product/138655
Thats the exact card you have, just in PCI-E form.
--
Ever wonder about the stars? |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
Just saw your most recent post.
"just recommend a PCI card"
For information so nothing leads to confusion, you are looking at pci-express cards(pci-e) not pci. These are not the same interface so it is important not to confuse them. There are still old low performance graphics cards for pci but this isn't what you want.
"I also wanted to know the built in graphics in this motherboard is it good enough to play games with ? its Graphics controller Radeon HD 4200."
It's about the best integrated chipset you can get. It is capable of modest gaming at lower resolutions. It isn't going to perform where your 3850 did or where a decent standalone card will. You can always try it and see if you are satisfied. I suggested it because it will at least allow you to have a working system if you aren't ready to buy a graphics card and you don't have to pay a premium to get the graphics.
From ebuyer, at the price specified, this 4670 is your best choice. It will outperform the 3850 you have now, although it won't be a massive upgrade.
»www.ebuyer.com/product/175344
A little better though just slightly over budget is this 9600gt:
»www.ebuyer.com/product/175334 |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs:
4 edits | reply to Johnny_
Ok going to edit this, i found the card i want alittle over
»www.advancetec.co.uk/acatalog/Sa···ard.html
Just want to verify that this will be ok with this motherboard and psu.
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···85G--AM3
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···--5-year
Abit what i wanted to know about the motherboard says DDR3 and graphics card memory GDDR5, im guessing it doesnt matter and its totally different, just alittle less educated on this kinda stuff lol |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
"Just want to verify that this will be ok with this motherboard and psu."
yes, the choices are good ones.
"motherboard says DDR3 and graphics card memory GDDR5"
The system ram doesn't have to match the graphics card memory. They are two unconnected things. You just have to get ddr3 ram for your system. If you make different ram and cpu choices than those I suggested you can check them here before buying. |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs:
| reply to Johnny_
Well my gf is buying me these, so yeah she picked out that cpu also so i have no problem with your choice, looks great.
As for the memory someone else is buying me that, so i should tell them to get ddr3, but I'm a little confused with the 1066Mhz, does it have to be 1066 because i see 1333, 1600 all the way up to 2000 or is 1066 what the motherboard takes?
And if i could pay you for your help i would because you been real patient with me lol, i really do appreciate it  |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
"does it have to be 1066 because i see 1333, 1600 all the way up to 2000 or is 1066 what the motherboard takes?"
No you don't have to get 1066 but there is no reason to spend a premium for high speed ram. You are less likely to have any fussy problems if you stick to something like 1066 1.5v sticks, or perhaps 1333. If you buy higher performance ram that wants higher voltages you are more likely to have to fiddle with bios settings to achieve stability. There also isn't a significant performance advantage messing with more exotic ram. |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
Also note I chose a 4GB 2x2GB kit ( which means the kit has 2 sticks of ram at 2GB per stick). The reason for this is that using 2 sticks of the same ram allows you to run memory dual channel. You don't want to run just one stick. This is why you will often see ram sold in kits of multiples of 2 or 3 sticks(the latter are for triple channel i7 setups) |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs:
| reply to Johnny_
I just noticed on the motherboard it only has 1 IDE slot, is it ok for me to connect the Hard drive and Cd-rom with the same cable ? as my HD isn't SATA
»www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Produ···85G--AM3 |
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Gordo74
Premium
join:2003-10-28
Monroeville, PA
clubs: | reply to Johnny_
Yes, as long as you have the jumpers set right for a proper master-slave combo. |
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asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to Johnny_
Yes you can run both.
If the cable came with the new motherboard then it should be an 80 wire cable. If it is an older cable then you should determine if it is an 80 wire or 40 wire by actually counting the wires over the width of the cable. NOTE both are 40 PIN connectors. It is the number of wires that differs, not the number of pins at the connector points.
For an 80 wire cable the connectors generally have different colors: blue, gray and black. The blue is the connector that goes to the motherboard. The black at the end is for the master drive, the gray in middle is for the slave. You need to set the jumper properly(master or slave) on the back of each of your drives as well. Usually there are markings next to the jumper block to show which are master pins and which slave. If not you need to get out the instructions for your drive. You want your hard drive to be the master(set the jumper on the hard drive to master and put at the end of the cable connecting to the black connector) and the optical to be slave(set optical drive jumper to slave and connect to middle slave connector on cable).
The 40 pin cables are opposite. They have master connector in the middle and slave at the end. You generally want to use an 80 pin cable with recent drives, not the older 40 pin cables. |
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Johnny_
Premium
join:2002-12-21
clubs:
1 edit | reply to Johnny_
i just want to ask about the
AMD CPU AM3 Phenom II X2 550 Dual core Black Edition
Does this come with a cpu fan or do i need to buy one, if so can you recommend one, nothing fancy just something that will do the job.
Thanks |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | Retail CPUS come with heatsinks and fans - OEM CPUs do not. |
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